Baron Davis no fan of Elton Brand

Posted by
Inside Hoops

Nov
21

Last summer, Elton Brand and Baron Davis talked about playing together on the Clippers. So Davis signed on as a free agent. Brand, however, didn’t re-sign with the team, and jumped ship to the Philadelphia 76ers. Davis still isn’t happy about it. The Los Angeles Times (Lisa Dillman) reports on the two players as their two teams are set to play against each other:

So will they hug, exchange pleasantries or even lock eyes before tonight’s game? “I’ve got nothing to say to him,” Davis said on Wednesday. This was in the visitors’ dressing room at Oklahoma City, not long after the Clippers beat the Thunder by 20 points. The mention of Brand quickly wiped away Davis’ smile, especially because he just had been talking about Oklahoma City’s Earl Watson, saying he regards Watson like “a brother.” Davis hasn’t spoken to Brand, and said he doesn’t plan to do so, because the former Clipper recruited Davis to come join him in Los Angeles and then Brand did a quick cut and run, heading East for a bigger bag of money, a five-year deal worth almost $80 million… Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy has rehashed the turn of events last summer — and is still wanting for answers. “Elton had a great five years here. I loved him,” he said. “There’s a disappointment because you just don’t understand. He and I text messaged and called and never went, either one of us, usually 10 to 15 minutes without calling or returning a text. And then next thing I know it went silent.”

So far, the 76ers are a modest 5-6, the Clippers an awful 2-9. Brand is averaging just 15.8 points on just 43.8% shooting, with 10.5 rebounds, 1.55 blocks and more turnovers than assists. Davis is putting up just 15.5 points (by coincidence, almost the same as Brand) on lousy 36.1% shooting and only 24.6% three-pointers, plus 3.3 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 1.8 steals. Both players will probably raise their shooting percentages in the coming weeks as they and their new teams adjust to each other.